The former New Zealand opener guided his country to the semifinals of the inaugural world cup in England in 1975 with two undefeated centuries.
Turner thought those deeds, along with the male perm, flared trousers and floral prints, were permanently consigned to the history books.
He was wrong.
A who's who of cricket greats was summoned to Mumbai last week for a glitzy awards ceremony recognising past world cup heroes.
World cup fever is sweeping through India but it was the tournament's former stars who took centre stage.
A trophy and cheque for $US10,000 was presented to the most outstanding players from each of the nine previous world cups, decided using the Ceat ranking system, named for a Mumbai-based tyre company.
The former Otago batsman came out on top for the 1975 tournament.
"It was a bit like those game shows where someone wins cash and you hold the up the big cardboard cheque," Turner said.
"It [the cheque] would have been worth a lot more back then."
Those readers old enough to remember may recall his fabulous 171 not out against East Africa - a then limited-overs world record score.
But Turner rated his innings against India as more significant.
He scored 114 not out to help New Zealand overhaul India's total of 230 and book a semifinal showdown with the West Indies.
"I don't even know how the [Ceat system] functions frankly . . .
But, obviously, now I think it is very accurate," Turner joked.
He was flown to India business class and put up in the glamorous Taj Mahal Palace and Towers hotel in Mumbai for three days.
At the function he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Pakistan great Wasim Akram and Indian stars Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid and enjoyed a show rich in Indian colour.
There was song and dance and Bollywood stars, of course.
A comedian roasted some of the cricket legends with impressions.
There was also an impressive sand animation which depicted India's passion for the game.
But, mostly, people just wanted to talk cricket and, in particular, who would win this year's tournament.
Turner a national selector, believes India is the favourite but has not ruled New Zealand out.
"Some of the other teams have more of those [match-winning] players that we do.
So they have a better chance.
But having said that, if you can get through to the semis ... it only takes one of them to come off and he can still win you the game.
World Cup - Outstanding players
1975: Glenn Turner.
1979: Gordon Greenidge.
1983: Kapil Dev.
1987: Geoff Marsh.
1992: Wasim Akram.
1996: Aravinda de Silva.
1999: Rahul Dravid.
2003: Sourav Ganguly.
2007: Matthew Hayden.
